Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 960: After All...I Came To Kill You All

Five members of the heavenly council have been lost since their last official meeting. Since then, an ocean of changes has occurred, pushing the gods into more and more desperate situations. Hamelth was amongst those gods, as one of his cities was the first to fall to the living and the allied gods. And as the leader of the council, he could not afford to appear weak, and thus, standing trial not on himself but the goddess Wolcenya, he pointed his proverbial finger at her.

"Your chosen were meant to cripple the city of Aurum, and instead, they’ve only reinforced the resolve of those dissenting mortals!"

The orb of light sitting in the far right corner rippled in eccentric waves before Wolcenya’s sharp voice cut through the middle.

"Your followers house the hero, and you were never made aware. How could I have known that he would be there if you didn’t either? And don’t you dare push your mistakes on me again; your people may be strong, but my warriors won’t shy from massacring them in the night if it comes to it! "

Anger and resentment had finally bled onto the council. Once it was a place of silent deliberation, but with each passing day, the gods’ desperation was turning into something else. Resentment towards each other had grown even faster, especially with Fortuna and Mesmerazia’s betrayal. The two goddesses were the reluctant glue that held the pack together, not through goodwill, of course, but with luck and even commerce.

"Burn it all for all I care," cutting through the awkward silence, Jestrus, the god of chaos, snickered under his breath. "I mean, what the fuck? None of the other humans are good enough, not to mention we gotta rely on that rascal to kill the demon lord, which we’re not too sure he can even do, but he is our best chance."

Eyeing Hamleth through his sphere of light, the god smiled at his throne far away from the council table.

"Not to mention our leader is lost and we’re fighting each other. I’d say it’s time to either accept our losses or choose someone else to guide us." Grunts and shock rumbled around him, but before a word left anyone’s mouth–Jestrus sprinkled in another kicker. "Or we can just free the goddess Bellona. That boy doesn’t seem inclined to help her, so maybe we can take advantage of the situation."

"How did you even find out about that?" Ignoring Jestrus’ questioning of his ability to lead, Hamleth narrowed his eyebrows and stared at the god of chaos. "And watch your tongue before you speak of such things. Not all are meant to know everything!"

"I think Wolcenya would make a better leader, actually." Shooting right back, Jestrus set his gaze on Wolcenya instead. "At least then we’d be privy to the information we need and not run into an ambush like your followers did, isn’t that, right, Wolcenya?"

"Can’t say I disagree," the goddess asserted, her dagger-like glare burrowing deep inside Hamelth’s sphere.

"Enough of your tomfoolery, Jestrus," before the god of law said a word, Lolath–the god of good and evil stepped in. "You can satisfy your sick desire for chaos in the human world. Let the council be; we’re already struggling as is."

"He’s right; we need to find out what to do next instead of bickering here like children," Nexsuem added, asserting Lolath’s suggestion further.

"And what do you two suggest exactly?" Yet again, Jestrus refused to back down. Fanning the flames of frustration and rousing a reaction from the only silent gods thus far.

"I say we kill the fucker and raise our own warriors, start fresh and train these bastards to get rid of that demonic lord!" Valcan screamed, his dragonic voice clashing with the others like thunder.

"With the holy war now started, we can influence the world ourselves without breaching any heavenly law." Ivor Nexa Nuvia, half-brother to both Athenia and Nerva, spoke less than all, but as the god of dimensions, his words were often taken with more weight than the others.

"Ivor’s suggestion has merit. We still plan on how to apply our skills and–" Giving Hamleth pause on his judgement, a low whistle like a stream of air slipping through a slit in a fabric whistled across the open judgement hall. Growing louder by the seconds until eventually a blinding beam of celestial light was seen falling onto the council from further above.

Staring right at the falling stars, Hamelth narrowed his eyebrows and leaned closer to his seeing portal. Through it, he saw a flicker most familiar, a flicker that had been the first thorn on his side right after Athenia.

"Eleanria..." He whispered, clicking his tongue as the stars fell all over the council hall.

A gust of celestial dust scattered throughout the open room, blinding even the gods for a moment until everything settled and the woman who donned the stars was revealed standing in front of them with a small army of soldiers, kings, and even dead gods. Surrounding her, they kept a stern watch on the council members. But the one who seemed the most odd amongst the interlopers wasn’t Eleanria nor the dead, nor the fairy Cassiopea that accompanied her–but instead it was a mortal.

"Ughh..If I could throw up, I probably would. That journey was a whack," Mono complained, trying her best to not fall over.

"A mortal?! You brought a living MORTAL TO THE HEAVENS?!" Hamleth’s voice roared like thunder, but unfortunately for him, Elenaria had no reason to answer.

"Is that the welcome I deserve, Hamleth?" With a smile on her face and a smirk adopted from Athenia’s smug parts, Elenaria stepped closer to the blob of light through which Hamleth was seeing her. "Very well, doesn’t matter. After all, I came to kill you all."

"You can try," grunted their leader.

"Oh, how I would love to hollow out your marrow, goddess," Wolcenya threatened, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"And how exactly do you plan to kill us where we are not?" Nexsuem inquired, smugly.

Shaking her head, Elenaria shrugged her shoulders and sighed before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"I did come here to kill you, but thank the hero that you so desperately want dead for changing my mind a while ago." Wiping the smile off her face, her expression quickly furrowed. "This time, I only came to warn you. Five days from now, something is going to happen. Something in the best interest of us all fighting against the demon lord, so if any of you bastards tried anything until then or on that very date, I will rain the fury of the stars on your sorry souls."

"And why would we ever listen to you?!" Growled Valcan, his voice gritty as ever.

Turning around without a care, Elenaria beckoned her soldiers closer to herself. Once surrounded, she whispered a silent spell to leave the damned place, but not before giving the dragon god–her direct rival–the answer that he wanted.

"A little angry angel has had enough of your hubris." Smiling at them from over her shoulder, she warned. "Maybe it told me where you hide, maybe it told me your weaknesses, maybe it told me all that there is to know about you. And why would it know any of it? Because it was here before us all."

’Raguel?!’ The name rang in the heads of all gods present, and they cursed him under their breaths. Right then, Elenaria departed with her entourage, but her warning? It lingered like a din. Left helpless to do anything, at long last, the council realized something. This whole thing was a sham; relying on each other had gotten them nowhere. And thus, the true war had just begun–although with the interlude of six days to see exactly what the devil, Elenaria, was talking about.